I haven't been out in my shop much in the last month… pretty lazy on my part plus I didn't have enough cash to keep two stoves running. Today my young helper Brian and I fired up the shop's Englander so we'll have a warm place to work on Sunday. The auger had been jammed with fines so we vacuumed it and the stove fired right up… good deal! The St. Croix that heats the house has been working pretty steady but last season the versa-grate quit working due to a loose set screw on the shaft in the drive coupler… and I just couldn't get it to tighten or loosen. Not having the self cleaning feature of the versa-grate made it impossible for the stove to run efficiently with those crappy pellets. I had to clean the burn pot every 12-24 hours or the burn went downhill fast. Not only was the VG non-operational but the auger started making "clicking" noise that indicated it was sticking in the auger tube. One end of the auger was also worn/damaged from something very hard being run thru the stove. Today Brian and I fixed both items… amazingly the seized set screw was now loose in it's threads… the PB Blaster I used on it last season finally worked! We removed the auger and lubed it with a secret sauce I brewed up… a combination of 25% high-temp synthetic wheel bearing grease and 75% graphite powder. If the auger gets hot enough for the grease to drip out the graphite should stick around… we'll see. This was the first time I had lubed the auger since I bought the stove in '06. I have been burning some pretty crappy Uncle Jed's Southern Hardwoods. These pellets have set new standards for producing ash and big clinkers in the burn pot… something I have never had with any other pellet during the last seven years. The dealer has stopped buying these from the TN mill that produces them. The first pallet of them were pretty darn nice… but the last 17 bags I bought have been awful… loaded with fines and sawdust. They virtually plugged up both of my stoves. Today I bought several bags of a locally produced pellet from Athens, WI. I get them from a local source but the seller was down to less than one pallet so I only bought five bags… these are 100% pine and work very nicely although they are not as hot as the Doug Firs I prefer. All in all it was a good day. the driveway was finally cleared of snow from this past weeks 12" accumulation. The temps today were above 40F… and sunny! We're now prepared for the arctic blast set to hit Cheeseville mid-week.
It's getting cold here in Ohio. Fired the pellet furnace tonight (been off for almost a week). That means it's got to be freezing where you are at! Stay warm Kroos.
